This is the photo i have decided to use for my college magazine cover. My magazine will be aimed at secondary school parents, it will be mainly aimed at the sudents starting the secondary school Sout Hunsley after the summer.

Here are some photo ideas i may use when finishing my front cover.

This is my moood board. It consists of ideas i may take into consideration and use when creating my front cover. There are a variety of colours, fonts, pictures and story line ideas(healthy eating for children).

Conventions of a contents page

Images: Images to give the reader and idea of what will be In the magazine

Sub headings- To tell the reader a bit about each story or headline it appear under the page number

Page number: to show where each story is in the magazine

Details about the magazine: Contact information e.g. email, telephone number and address.

Sometimes magazines include a short letter from the producer or some famous person explaining their thoughts and views on what they think of the magazine and also adding important information about the magazine when needed.

This is a sports magazine and is aimed at college students in who play the sport basketball. I know this becuase the mast head is 'college basketball'. It is not just for one certain college or school becuase if it was there would be a college or school name on the magazine and there isnt, also in the top left hand corner there is a box which says Althlon Sports which refers to sports as a whole not just basketball at one college and underneath it says 'Americas premier sports annuals'. This could mean that there are many of other sports magazines for different sports, it also says 'Americas premier sports annual' which talks about America as a whole not just one part or America or one college in America. The magazine is one you buy and is obvioulsy an American magazine therefore the price is in dollars at $6.99. There is a bar code on the magazine which could mean that the magazine is sold in a shop whether it is a supermarket, corner shop or a sports shop. The bar code is in its usually position which is in the bottom right hand corner and within the bar code is the price and the date of when the magazine can be displayed until. There is also a website for the magazine.

There is no issue number on the magazine however underneath the masthead it says '2009-2010 preview' which could mean that the magazine is only issued once a year. This could be because after the season of basketball has finished there are tips and things to look out for in the next year(2009-2010) which is proven in the first civer line on the left '10 things to watch in 09-10'. Also they may be recruting new players for certain teams for the new season starting which is proven in the selling line at the top of the magazine as on the very right of the selling line it says 'recruiting'.

The main image is an image of a coach of a University called Kentucky. I know this because the underneath the main cover line it says 'Kentucky head coach John Caliparia'. The main cover line says 'The cult of Caliparia' which also proves that the main image is about John Caliparia. If the maincover line and the bit underneath it did not say who he was and what importance he had i still would think he was high up in a team, this is because he is wearing a shirt/polo shirt not a basketball tank top which makes him look more professional and better then the players. I can tell that he is proffesional as the buttons on his top are all nearly done up and they are not hung open all slouchy, also his short is very clean and has no creases therefore he cares about what he looks like and has presicion so he can look more proffessional as possible and that he is serious/commited about his job.

I think that the colours in the magazine are very simple(red,blue,white and black) however the magazine does not need colour to appeal readers to buy it this is becuase it comes once a year so most people who normal like to read are going to buy it whether the colours are bright or not.
The magazine obeys the conventions of a magazine cover however does not use all of them enough for example there are not enough cover lines to tell you about what is going to be in the magazine. This can make it not as appealing to people buying one.

This magazine is aimed at school children’s parents this is because the information on the magazine cover talks about how to help your child/kids. For example ‘Help your child transition from summer to school’ . The magazine is very colourful which draws people into the magazine. Each different bit of information about what is inside the magazine is in a different font, colour and size. I don’t think this magazine is one that parents have to buy as it does not include a price or a bar code. It doesn’t have much of a date line either it only states the year it was issued in this shows that this magazine only comes out once a year, which is after the summer. There are many cover lines which makes the magazine seem interesting and full of information. You can tell from looking at the front cover that magazine is not aimed at college students as the main image is a girl which doesn’t look old enough to be a college student. Within the cover lines of the magazine cover it refers to the school pupils as kids and children which at college you are no longer known as, you are known as a adult. Also the fact that the magazine is aimed at parents and by the time you get to college you don’t really have your parents holding your hand anymore, however the young girl is not wearing a uniform which could indicate that she is a college student. The title of the magazine is ‘back to school’ this obviously means that the magazine is about getting children back into the school mood and isn’t about college. This magazine obeys the conventions and tries to add as many as possible.

The girl is on a white background this could be so she stands out more, they want to draw the reader in to the fact that it is about school children. She also has black her therefore makes her stand out even more especially on a white background. On her back is a rucksack like one a school pupil would take to school. There is only a little bit of the bag showing in the photo however is quite close up which draws the readers attention into the bag. The same goes for the book in her hand. This book could be to do with her work, like a writing pad. Most students normally carry around a notepad or a folder so this is showing a typically thing that a student would do. The fact that she has got an ice cream on the front of her book could mean that she is only young therefore still likes things like that which are colourful and interesting on her folder instead of a plain bog standard folder/pad. Her hand is rested on top of the pad which draws your attention to the pad and is one of the first things you look at, this is also due to the way she is stood as the front of her body is behind her book so when looking at the front of her body you see the notepad too.
The fact that she has no uniform could mean that the school doesn’t have a uniform and lets the pupils wear their own clothing which means that they have a relaxed attitude towards education, this can make the pupils feel more themselves.

College magazines

In order to design my college magazine affectivly i need to define and target a specific audience. In order to discover the best way of doing this i need to find the codes and conventions of magazine and colege magazines in particular.

The conventions are:

• Masthead
• Dateline
• Main image
• Model credit
• Coverlines
• Main cover line
• Left third
• Bar code
• Selling line